Scintillating sign



Dec. 26, 1939. w; G. M ILVANIE SCINTILLATING SIGN Filed March 1'7,v 19393 re/I'M mama amen air/rule Patented Dec. 26, 1939 UNITED STATESSOINTILLATING SIGN 7 Wallace G. Mcllvanie, Yakima, Wash.

Application March 17,

7 Claims.

This invention relates to scintillatingsigns. An object of the,invention is the provision of a sign containing indicia in which thewords or other matter are included upon a surface formed by a pluralityof ro-ckable sections with means for rocking the sections alternately inopposite directions so that when the sign is illuminated it will appearin perfect form in alternation with a distorted form.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a sign havingindicia thereon and decorations, if desired, in which the lettersforming the indicia cover the flat surface of a reflecting sign which isilluminated by a lamp, the sign being formed of elongated sectionssuperimposed upon each other in a vertical plane but rockably mountedupon horizontal axes, means being employed for rocking the sectionsalternately for alternately disclosing the sign and disfiguring the signfor attracting attention thereto, all of the elements of the sign and thoperating means being. formed as a unit.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a sign having asurface disposed nor- 25 mally in a vertical plane with the sign beingformed of superimposed sections in the same vertical plane and rockablymounted on a horizontal axis, the sections being removable so that signsof various types may be applied to a rockable means, the sections beingformed of transparent material having a reflecting surface at the rearthereof with the letters or other ornae mentation being painted upon thesurface of the sections so that when light rays are projected upon thesections the indicia on said sections will stand out, the sections beingadapted to be alternately rocked for displaying the sign or for causingdisfiguration of the same.

This invention will be best understood from a consideration of thefollowing detailed description, in view of the accompanying drawingforming a part of the specification; nevertheless, it is to beunderstood that the inventionis not confined to the disclosure, beingsusceptible of such changes and modifications as define no materialdeparture from the salient features of the invention as expressed in.the appende claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a front view in elevation of a sign constructed inaccordance with the principles of my invention,

Figure 2 is a transverse vertical section taken along the line 22 ofFig. 1,

Figure 3 is a fragmentary end: view in eleva- 1939, Serial No. 262,513

tion of the operatingmeans for the sections of the sign, and

Figure 4 is an enlarged vertical section taken along the line 4-4 ofFig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, Ill designates a housingwhich may be formed of metal or any other suitable material. Thishousing is vertically disposed and elongated. The upper portion of thesection, as shown at H, is curved outwardly from the back portion I2 andthen downwardly, as shown at i3, where it terminates in a horizontaledge l4 below an elongated lamp of any suitable type.

The lower end of the housing, as shown at I3, is formed in a similarmanner to that of the portion H. The front of the housing, as shown atH, is open.

' A bracket 20 is secured at 2i to the rear face of the housing Ill andhas a flange 22 at its outer end to which is bolted the base member 23of a motor 24. A pulley 25 is secured to the motor shaft 26.

A bracket 30 has a curved portion 3| neatly receiving the curved lowerend It of the housing ID. This bracket is secured at 32 to the lower endof the housing and extends rearwardly from the back i2, as shown moreparticularly in Fig. 2. This bracket supports a shaft 33 and a largepulley 34 is rigidly connected to the shaft.

To one end of the shaft 33 is secured, a crank 35 while a crank 36 issecured to the other end.

A belt 31 is trained on the pulleys 25 and 34 so that when the motor 24is operated the pulley 35, shaft 33 and likewise the cranks 35 and 36are operated. 1

Elongated bars 40, 4t, 42, '43 are rigidly mounted upon horizontalshafts 4,4 and 45. It will be seen that the bars 40 and 42 are carriedby, the shafts 44 while thelbars 4! and 43 are carried by the shafts 45.These shafts are mounted in bearings formed in the end walls 46 and 4!of the housing I0. I

, A plurality of elongated plates 50, 5|, 52 and 53 are respectively,connected tothe outer faces of the bars 40 to 43, inclusive, by means ofscrews 54 although any other suitable fastening means may be employedforthe purpose. v v

The plates 50 to53, inclusive, have reflecting surfaces at their rearfaces and'these faces may be corrugated as shown at 55 in Figs, 2, 3 and4 although any other suitable form'of deformation of the rear faces ofsaid plates may be had in order to give different effects when the vraysof the lamp 15 are projected upon the outer faces of said plates Acurved link 60 has one end pivotally connected at El to the outer rearend of a projection 58 on the bar 40 while the other end, as shown atB2, is connected to a similar projection 58 extending from the rear faceof the bar 42. A rod 63 has pivotal connection with the crank 36 at oneend and the other end is pivotally connected at 62 where the link 60 isconnected to the projection at the rear of the bar 42.

A link 54 has pivotal connections at 65 and 66 with projections 59 atthe rear faces of the bars 4| and 43. A rod 6'! has pivotal connectionswith the crank 35 and also with the pin 65 so that when the shaft 33 isrevolved the link 60 will rock the plates 5|! and 52 in an oppositedirection to that of the rocking of the plates 5| and 53 by the link 64.

From an inspection of Fig. 1 it will be seen that the letters of thewords on the sign and also decorations, if any, are placed upon theouter faces of the elongated plates 50 to 53, inclusive, while theseplates are located in a vertical plane and some of the letters of thewords may extend across the entire faces of the plates while certain ofthe letters will extend only over a certain number of said plates. Inany event the rocking of the plates and the respective bars 40 to 43,inclusive, will cause a distortion of the sign as shown in Fig. 3 whenthe cranks 35 and 36 are disposed in a vertical plane; When the cranks,however, move to their horizontal plane, as shown in Fig. 2, the platesor sections of the sign will be in vertical alignment and the sign willappear in proper form.

The rotation of the shaft 33 by the pulley 34 will cause reciprocationof the rods 63 and 6'! in opposite directions and therefore the links 60and 64 will be shifted in opposite directions so that the sections ofthe sign will be rocked from the vertical position to angular positionswith respect to each other and these sections 59 to 53, inclusive, willbe moved from the vertical so that the lower edges of the sections 5|and 53 will be moved inwardly while the lower portions of the sections50 and 5| will be moved outwardly with the crank 36 in the lowermostposition and the crank 35 in the uppermost position. When the positionsof the cranks are reversed in vertical alignment the lower edges of thesections 50 and 52 will be moved inwardly from the vertical while thelower edges of the sections 5| and 53 will be moved outwardly. However,as the sections reach the vertical position between these two movementsof the sections the sign will appear in proper form while in the otherpositions of the section the sign will be distorted.

Due to the fact that the sign is made up of sections as shown by plates50 to 53, inclusive, and these plates are readily removable, othersections may be substituted for the sections which are in place veryreadily to give an entirely different picture to the public.

The letters 10 are formed of sections and these sections are included ina number of the plates 5|] to 53, inclusive. Said plates are reflectorsand the sections of the letters are formed on the plates with opaquepaint so that the plates on opposite sides of the sections of theletters will reflect the light with the letters appearing through thereflected rays.

Since the light rays from the lamp |5 are projected upon the surface ofthe sign at an acute angle to the surface, the light rays are thenreflected downwardly at the same angle when all of the sections are in avertical plane. However, when the sections are rocked from the verticalposition, the light rays will be projected in difierent directions sothat the constant rocking of the sections will give a scintillatingeffect to the sign. It will be appreciated that instead of the plates 50to 53, inclusive, being the reflectors the letters 10 themselves may bethe refiectorsin order to give a slightly different effect from thatpreviously explained. In other words, the plates in this case would beformed of transparent material with a reflecting surface at the rear butthe background may be painted out so that the letters only will reflectlight rays.

The bars 4|) to 43, inclusive, may be formed of glass and they may becylindrical in shape. The distance between the cranks 35 and 35 shouldbe as short as possible so that the rocking of the plates 50 to 53,inclusive, will give a scintillating effect instead of a completedistortion of the sign.

I claim:

l. A scintillating sign comprising a vertically disposed housing havinga front window, a plurality of spaced horizontally disposed shaftsmounted in the housing and located approximately in a vertical plane, anelongated reflecting plate secured to each shaft, said plates disposednormally in vertical alignment, indicia being applied to the plates sothat the letters forming said indicia will extend over more than oneplate, and means for rocking alternate plates in opposite directions foralternately deflecting and aligning the plates.

2. A scintillating sign comprising a vertically disposed housing havinga front window, a plurality of spaced horizontally disposed shaftsmounted in the housing and located approximately in a vertical plane, anelongated reflecting plate secured to each shaft, said plates disposednormallyin vertical alignment, indicia being applied to the plates sothat the letters forming said indicia will extend over more than oneplate, means for rocking alternate plates in opposite directions foralternately deflecting and aligning the plates, and means projectinglight rays on to the plates.

3. A scintillating sign comprising a vertically disposed housing havinga front window, a plurality of spaced horizontally disposed shaftsmounted in the housing and located approximately in a vertical plane, anelongated reflecting plate secured to each shaft, said plates disposednormally in vertical alignment, indicia being applied to the plates sothat the letters forming said indicia will extend over more than oneplate, means for rocking alternate plates in opposite directions foralternately deflecting and aligning the plates, and means for removablyconnecting the plates to the shafts.

4. A scintillating sign comprising a housing having a front windowsubstantially vertically disposed, a plurality of elongated rockablymounted reflecting plates disposed in vertical alignment at the windowand having indicia applied thereto with the letters of the indiciaextending over more than one plate, a lamp. confined in a post of thehousing and projecting light rays on to the plates, and means forrocking alternate plates in opposite directions for alternatelydeflecting and aligning the plates.

5. A scintillating sign comprising a housing having a front windowsubstantially vertically disposed, a plurality of elongated rockablymounted reflecting plates disposed in vertical alignment at the windowand having indicia applied thereto with the letters of the indiciaextending over more than one plate, a lamp confined in a post of thehousing and projecting light rays on to the plates, and means mounted onthe back of the housing for rocking alternate plates in oppositedirections and forming a unit with the housing.

6. A scintillating sign comprising a housing having a front windowsubstantially vertically disposed, a plurality of elongated rockablymounted reflecting plates disposed in vertical alignment at the windowand having indicia applied thereto with the letters of the indiciaextending over more than one plate, a lamp confined in the post of thehousing and projecting light rays on to the plates, means mounting theindividual plates for rocking movement, means connecting alternateplates for simultaneous rocking movement, and means causing rocking ofalternate plates in opposite directions.

'7. A scintillating sign comprising a housing having a front windowsubstantially vertically disposed, a plurality of elongated rockablymounted reflecting plates disposed in vertical alignment at the windowsand having indicia applied thereto with the letters of the indiciaextending over more than one plate, a lamp confined in a post of thehousing and projecting light rays on to the plates, a shaft for eachplate having bearings at the ends of the housing, a bar secured to eachshaft, means removably securing the plates to the bars, means connectingalternate bars for simultaneous rocking movement, and means attached tothe connecting means for causing rocking of alternate bars and theassociated plates in opposite directions.

W. G. McILVANIE.

